Friday, February 1, 2019

A Milder February

It’s snowing outside.It’s been a hard winter for us here, so
far.My wife and I have taken on new
roles as nurses, helping her grandmother navigate her suddenly uncooperative
body.She’s awake and aware, and she
holds on to her dignity, but it’s not easy for any of us.

I’ve been an astrologer for many years,
and I knew that things were about to get intense.But you never know exactly what form it’s
going to take.Looking at the new moon
of February 4, though, I’m a little heartened.It’s much gentler than the last one.

The new moon shows some of
the new beginnings we can expect this month.This is a more dispassionate, cerebral new moon, with Mercury close to
the sun/moon in Aquarius.It’s a time
when we can all be more objective, when we can get some distance from the
problems that shocked and unbalanced us during the last lunar cycle.

And this distance lends itself to
problem-solving, to ingenuity and creativity.One of the hallmarks of Aquarius is the willingness to try new things,
to invent and construct alternative techniques and strategies.I’m looking forward to this, if only to help
us streamline our new routines a bit.

Maybe we’ll turn out to be hotshot
nurses.Only yesterday we were
congratulating each other because we’ve gotten pretty smooth with a drawcloth
and a three-count, hoisting the granny up to a higher position on the bed.Maybe there will be more stories to hear,
before she falls back asleep again.Maybe we’ll be amazed by the secrets that emerge, secrets buried for
almost a hundred years.

The granny holds court from a bed which
obligingly changes shape at the press of a button.Meanwhile, winter creeps by outside, soft
flakes falling past her window.She
ignores them,fixated on the pictures
hanging on the wall, the photos of family and close friends.When we take them down, she touches them and
says the name of each person.

Mostly gentle, the February new moon has
one hard aspect:a separating square
between Mars and Pluto.This shows an
ongoing struggle with power, with forces that are too strong for us.In our home, we certainly see this, as we face the harsh realities of human frailty and transience.There is so little we can do.The snow covers everything, once again.

In the political landscape, we see it as
well.One of the grueling things about
January was the government shut-down, and the economic insecurity it engendered
for so many people.It became obvious that
the president’s habit of ignoring consequences really doesn’t work for him – and
definitely not for anyone else.Now the
new Democratic House has started working with the kind of energy we haven’t
seen in Congress in a while, and it’s becoming clearer to the public where
that energy is getting choked off.

During the first half of February, there
are a lot of stimulating Mercury aspects, which keep mental energy
flowing.Information will move outward
more freely, coming from discussions, meetings, and the sharing of ideas.This will be a welcome contrast to the kind
of gaslighting the president routinely does. Of course, it’s only a beginning, a showcase
of how government, civil society, and the press can work together.But it will be heartening.

The middle of February is the most turbulent time, and I realize this is when government
funding comes due again, on February 15.Mars will move out of combative Aries and into the more sedate sign
Taurus.However Taurus is a fixed sign.Could there be another impasse?I doubt it, because Mars in Taurus is also basically
practical, and a government shut-down helps nobody.

However, something rather violent and
shocking could happen, when Mars and Uranus conjoin in late Aries.This happens between February 9 and 16, and
if you have anything in the last degree of Aries (or any other cardinal sign),
it’s a good idea to be extra careful then.It looks like something will be ending, but unfortunately, I don’t think
it will be the Trump presidency.I don’t
have too much hope that that will happen till March at the earliest, when Jupiter
opposes his sun for the first time.At
that point, some of his excesses could catch up with him.

One danger is military action, during this Mars/Uranus conjunction.But I’m
hoping the month’s emphasis on healthy civil discourse will have a discouraging
effect when it comes to military adventures.I don’t see any astrological indication of an invasion of Venezuela,
since this Mars/Uranus conjunction is actually benign in the Venezuelan
national chart.It could mean a sudden
but positive shift in the balance of power there.

Other tricky aspects in mid-February are
less turbulent, but could be problematic.Venus conjuncts Saturn, and this is rather bleak. Hard Venus aspects often indicate setbacks in
the gay and queer community, but this is not an easy aspect for anybody’s love
life.At the same time, Mercury conjuncts Neptune.This aspect lends itself to fantasy worlds
which distract everyone from the disappointments of that Venus/Saturn aspect.It could be all shimmer and glitter, and it
could be beautiful, but it could also be one of those mass hypnosis times.Afterwards everybody wonders why they fell in
love with a donkey, or believed one of DT’s lies.

Aside from the sudden shocks of the Mars/Uranus
conjunction, and the sorrows of the Venus/Saturn conjunction, I’m not seeing
too many surprises in February. The best
thing about the coming month is that people will be thinking, and except for
that spate of delusion in the middle of the month, they’ll be thinking more
clearly than usual.Dawn takes its time,
following one band of daylight with another and another.But sooner or later, the world will be a
lighter place.